Rejoice in Blessing

/ Joshua Thomas / 1 Comment

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

  • Philippians 4:4

Well, Thanksgiving is almost here. In a few short days, the kids will be out of school, family will get together, and a feast will be had. It’s always a great time, but before you take that nap and then head out for your black Friday hunt (May the odds be in your favor, dear soul), take a step back and look at your life. One thing that this time of the year allows me to do is to think back on my past. Sure there are parts that I’d rather not dwell on, and I believe it is not good to dwell on the past for too long, but what I am saying is look at the blessings you have been given. The good, the bad, and ugly; all of these are in our past, but there’s something about it. Our past is a picture of how God has moved. Every choice made, every bad day, every question has all lead you to where you are in the here and now. I think that’s beautiful. We have been blessed so much, so we should rejoice in all things.

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Fearfully and Wonderfully Created

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“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Psalm 139:14

About a year ago I had this revelation. I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and saw a t-shirt. It was the daughter of someone that I follow and her shirt said, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” That stuck with me so much, because it means so much. The caption was something sweet about his daughter and helping her know she was made in the image of God. Cut to a few days later when I went to the Orange conference (a Next gen ministry conference), and they started talking about how vital the role of pastors and small group leaders play in the lives of the next generation. They said they do this by helping the next generation see that they are made in the image of God. Not a coincidence. Over and over since then God has been placing this on my heart, and if you’ve read my blog consistently, you know that I really like to push this fact. The reason I push it is because living into that title shifts your perspective. It allows you to move from thinking that you were some accident by science, but that you were created, fearfully and wonderfully, with a higher purpose for your life.

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Thank (Full)

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“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18

This is a big year. My life at this time will look radically different from what it looks like now. I will be graduating and begin the search for jobs. I will be moving into new places and meeting new people. I will face new challenges and old hurts. I am very nervous about this next year. Last week I wrote about fears, I wrote about the reminders that I have to give to myself on a daily basis, because fear is the thing that tries to tear me down. I fear being a failure, I fear being rejected, and most of all I fear dying and having my life not have made an impact. I believe that God has made each one of us special and unique, capable of doing incredible things. Yet, I have seen people close to me take this fact for granted and run after their own desires. Our desires, our earthly desires, are meaningless. Sure making money to provide for your family is good and all, but why is that the focus of your life? There is so much more to life. You have so much more to give. I’m still one of those crazy people that believes I can change the world, I believe that you can change the world too. In a season of life where I feel afraid of the future and what it might bring, I choose to be thankful no matter what. I choose to be thankful, because I am full of thanks. In the midst of my fears and weakness I’m reminded about the things I have been blessed with, and in the midst of your own fears and weaknesses, you can be thank full too.

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Fear Not

/ Joshua Thomas / 1 Comment

I figured we would start this post off very simply. I am very afraid, but that’s okay. I’ll rewind a sec; I’m a pretty simple guy who loves to write and help people discover their God given purpose in life. But my fears are real. I will be finishing up school soon, which means I have to start figuring the core of life out. That whole job thing is kinda important to provide for myself and a family one day. I want to write books and be in next generation ministry, and that excites me, but it can feel like an army that I have to overtake to get there. It’s easy for me to get anxiety over things, the little things like being on time or registering for classes, and it messes with me. I try to do the right things and take the right steps, but it can feel like I’m doing all the wrong things and making it harder for myself. I think we all have struggles like this. Fear is something that can so quickly enter our lives and make us want to hide away for a while. I want to hide away. Thankfully, God has so much grace for me, he is able to pull me out of the moments where I just want to quit and says that he has more for me. He says this about all of us, and he tells us to fear not.

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Guard Your Heart

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“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

Proverbs 4:23

Everything we do; our actions, our words, our attitudes towards others all flow out of our heart. This month I’ve been going through b-movie tropes to help teach life lessons that I have learned from God’s word. Today I want to continue but with no direct example, because there is a trap that we all fall into and it is a serious one. In movies we see people make dumb choices, they go into the graveyard/basement/abandoned circus and get themselves into big trouble. In movies we yell at the screen and laugh as a poorly acted character gets into the trap that we all saw coming. The truth is, we are often that character. We walk into obvious traps and lies from our enemy, and it costs us a great deal. Maybe you went into a relationship that everyone said was a bad idea, or maybe those friends you have that don’t really change the way you act (riiiight), or maybe it was the under-the-table dealings in your job that no one would find out about. We walk right into these traps, and they stare us right in the face. We can easily blame God for not warning us, but the real issue is us. When we don’t have our hearts set on what really matters, we will fall into the traps of the enemy.

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Remove the Mask

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For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.

Luke 8:17

We have a problem. One that affects every aspect of our lives and keeps us from true freedom. That problem is sin, or in other terms, a separation between us and God. In this sin we choose selfish desires and do selfish things, we live in a world that says anything you want is okay and totally fine. We create masks to fit in, to be someone we aren’t. As leaders and followers of Christ, we create these masks as well. Sometimes we put on our, “of course I read scripture in the morning like an inspiring Instagram post,” or, “I’ve never done something as bad as that.” The one that I think hurts us the most is, “I’m fine,” when we are most certainly not fine. You see we feel like we have to be a certain way or like certain things to be a follower of Christ, we think we have to be perfect people. The truth is, God used broken people and he wants to use you. If you’re saying to yourself, “I’m not broken, I follow all the rules I’m supposed to,” this post is for you. If you’re also saying, “I feel like I can’t be who I am to really follow Christ,” this post is also for you. God made us unique and special, he made us to live in the light, and he doesn’t want us to hide behind our masks any longer.

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Seek What Gives You Life

/ Joshua Thomas / 2 Comments

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Matthew 6:33-34

We continue our series of lessons from b-movies to give us a stronger battle plan for the spiritual warfare we all face, with today looking at the pitfalls of things that suck life away. I always love the way vampires are depicted in movies, these evil creatures who lure victims to them, and drink their blood (ewww). It’s a very visual image when you look at it, this monster literally sucks the life out of their victim. It’s easy to watch these movies and giggle because the vampire just looks like an obvious bad guy, I mean who wears a suit and lives in a creepy castle, only a vampire duh. I think the crazy part is, this happens to many of us on a daily basis. Okay, not the creature who wants to drink your blood, but there are things in our life that we let suck our lives away. We put ourselves in toxic relationships, waste our time with things that don’t matter, and we choose to live on our own; we choose to be independent from God. The truth is, we need to seek what gives us life by becoming dependent on Christ.

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It’s Dangerous to Go Alone

/ Joshua Thomas / 2 Comments

Well, the season has finally come. Fall is here! That means sweaters and hoodies, new TV shows are back, my birthday (shouts out to October 7th, yo), and Halloween to kick off the holiday season. I love this time of the year, maybe it’s due to the break of the heat, or maybe it’s something else. I often get a sense of spiritual refreshment during this season, new ideas and new adventures to undertake. Last year I did a series that related to classic b-movie themes to celebrate the Halloween spirit and reveal spiritual truths in silly movies. I want to do the same this year, but I want to be more focused. You see, recently I have been feeling spiritual attack. The enemy has been throwing storms my way, and through some difficult decisions I’ve made, I’ve had to persevere through some hurtful words. I think we all experience this kind of attack, often it means we are moving in the direction that God is calling us towards. We have an enemy, a very real enemy, not just a little red devil we see in cartoons. His plan is to steal, kill, and destroy us; which makes it hard for us to pursue God when we are attacked. We need a plan, a battle plan, one that we can turn to in moments of spiritual attack. This month I want to have a series based on this, each week giving a new piece to the battle plan for your life. So join me as we create our plan of attack.

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It’s Morphin’ Time

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This was one of my favorite things to hear as a kid. Wake up on a Saturday and watch (which at that point was re-runs) Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I loved this show (still love it too), and it taught me so much. Now for those of you who have never seen this show, I’ll give you the brief run down. An evil lady is awoken from sleep, so a giant floating head in a tube chooses five teenagers with attitude to save the world. Lost yet? Great! The show is silly and essentially has the same plot each episode (fight bad guy, bad guy grows, Power Rangers win by using their robot zords), but I think that this show is a great example of what we are called to do as believers. Now before you click away, hear me out. These were unique teenagers of every race that were called with a purpose, and they answered the call. This spoke to me as a kid, walking into the video rental store and watching VHS tapes of the show, and it speaks to me now as I walk through life knowing I have a calling, and wanting to fulfill it. The thing about this show, and of our walk with Christ, is we must allow God to change us. In other words, God says it’s morphin’ time.

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A Guide for What Happens Now

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“For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.”

-1 Peter 2:21

A lot of crazy stuff happens in life. That should be its’ definition, a bunch of crazy stuff that comes up and you have to face. It can be difficult, like really difficult. We have heartache, pain, loss, and countless other factors that can change our lives. The first step in all of it is to trust God, but often we are left with one question. Now what? What happens when we make that choice to follow God, what am I supposed to do? This is a question that I think we all must come to terms with at some point in our walks. Whether you have just made a decision to follow God or have been following him for what seems like ages, we all must come face to face with this question. Because here’s the truth, when you make the decision to follow Christ, he wants all of you. He doesn’t just want you on Sunday mornings or in some Instagram post of your quiet time, he wants you. Last week I wrote a piece about the love note that God has written to each of us, and this week I want to share the guide map that he has laid out for us to follow.

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